Daly, Payne, Predock, Sharif_Tech Core

NEWS

RUMBLE 2012
Course: 401.1 Advanced Topics Studio TECHCORE

Kevin Daly, Lecturer Jason Payne, Assistant Professor

Hadrian Predock, Lecturer

Mohamed Sharif, Lecturer

The 401 Techcore Design Studio unites the focused material and fabrication aspects of the Technology Seminar with the comprehensive design effort of the traditional Core Studio. Through an extended and in-depth investiga¬tion of a composite material system that embodies a range of performance types, material expressions, and technical interface, the Techcore Studio will allow for students to work collaboratively to integrate and develop a sophisti¬cated, vertical wall assembly. In doing so, students will develop an intimate understanding of the creative opportuni¬ties of the management and negotia¬tion of envelope layers, and a deep appreciation of architectural design as a material practice.

Architecture needs to be adjusting constantly to remain culturally relevant. The “wall” of architecture is a mecha¬nism that has the profound capacity to re-adjust to cultural shifts. Recent emphasis on the material aspects of building envelope have produced a compelling array of types and expres¬sions, but have tended to focus on the frontal surface as a muscular receptacle while neglecting an equally potent set of embedded material systems that lie behind this surface. The objective of the studio is to unpack and reorganize the condensed and information-laden material that produces a building’s “wall section”. A primary intention of this studio is to synthesize these layers such that an equal emphasis is placed on the integration and exploitation of those layers that are traditionally sup¬pressed. These strata and the forces that shape them will be studied in order to intimately understand how they perform, both technically and aestheti¬cally. Careful attention will be placed on the roles of material and technology in the organizing and assembling of such layers and systems. Students will apply this knowledge in the studio to transform the matter, forces, and geometry of wall sections into novel organizations. These wall assemblies will ultimately be tested through the drawing and fabrication of large scale representations that organ¬ize the material, geometric, technical, and structural ingredients with synthe¬sized, demonstrable effects. A secondary, but no less important objective is to develop new work through the extension of precedent projects and coarse enve¬lope typologies into new terrain.